On Saturday, Midsomer Norton Rugby's First Team entertained the Red Army of Oldfield Old Boys and started the game with a bang. From the kick-off, winger, Lee Withers, pressurised the

receiving Oldfield player, causing him to fumble the ball. The Norton players took advantage of the loose ball and after a series of pick and drives, Rob Fuller crashed over in the corner for the first try of the day, barely two minutes into the game.

Following the restart, Norton's forwards decided to take advantage of the great playing conditions and attacked the opposition's line. Flanker, Dave Sawkins, received a pass from his playing partner, Joe Button, to drive over the line – his teammates thought he had failed to ground the ball, but the referee disagreed and awarded the try.

Norton's back line nearly got on the scoreboard, but after a concentrated attack through the midfield, centre, Mitchard, grounded the ball, only to find that he had scored on a line five metres short of the try line.

The home side had quickly realised that their pack was

easily better than their oppositions and decided to drive this advantage home by playing to their strengths. Ben Taylor ran the game, putting his forwards into attacking positions; this allowed Mathew Edgell and Captain, Matthew Denning, to score in the first half. Edgell drove into the opposition defence, smashing it like a wrecking ball to score and Denning crossed the line to score the first of his two identical tries from driving mauls. Ben Moon added the final try of the half and collected the ball from the back of a ruck to weave his way over the line to score by the posts.

Starting the second half strongly, it didn't take long for the home side to score with their Captain scoring his second try from a driving maul. Following a totally dominant period, Norton made changes, using their bench, but the team seemed to think the game was already won. This gave Oldfield hope, but the home side's defence was as good as its attack and repelled all of the visitor's attacks. The side soon settled down and returned to its previous forward-dominating attacking style. Rob Fuller, starting his first game in the forwards this season, scored his second try from a driving maul following a lineout. Ben Taylor's continued control over the game forced a lineout in the visitor's twenty-two. But for once, the lineout did not go to plan – Joe Button capped a great game by beating the Oldfield forwards to the loose ball and finding space, he beat the defence to score an uncontested try under the posts.

The Coaches were pleased that the side seemed to have put the poor performance at Avon behind them and to stop Oldfield's lively backs from scoring was a bonus. It had been a great team result, with the side playing to its strengths.